


A Not So Smitten Kitten

by itislacey



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: AU, Comfort, Fluff, Halloween, Humor, M/M, cat!dan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 05:38:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8433820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itislacey/pseuds/itislacey
Summary: Dan hates Halloween for one reason: every year, he turns into a tiny, black cat for the whole day. But with warm snuggles and a little bit of playing with Phil, Dan thinks that maybe this Halloween wasn’t so bad after all. Despite his cat form.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I cried so hard typing that title, oh, God. Anyways, I wrote a fic for Halloween, so I hope it's not too rubbish. It's okay, in my opinion, but not every fic can be a winner, now can it? Enjoy!

Dan tried his best to hide the bit of nervousness that came with knowing today’s date, but as usual, Phil saw right through him.

“Relax,” Phil said, resting one hand on Dan’s bouncing leg. “It’s nowhere near midnight, you still have some time.”

Dan bit his bottom lip, sparing a glance at Phil. “I want more.”

Phil frowned, angling his body so he could face Dan. “You know if I could give it to you, I would. But I can’t. I’ll be here for you, just like I always am.”

“I know,” Dan breathed, leaning back into the sofa. “You know I hate Halloween.”

Oh, yes, Phil knew. He knew just how deeply Dan despised the 31st of October, and Phil supposed he saw the reason why, but Dan should be used to it by now. What happened every year was out of his control, but he knew he wasn’t alone. Phil was always there for Dan. The whole entire day. He would never dream of going anywhere.

“Like I said,” Phil continued, “we still have plenty of time.”

_

They most certainly did  _ not  _ have plenty of time. It was already 11:54 p.m., and Dan’s heart was beating so fast, he thought it was going to kill him.

Phil lied in bed next to him, tracing small circles on his back in attempts to soothe him, but it only did so much. He could feel how tense Dan was, and it made him sad that he couldn’t do anything to help him. “You’ll be okay,” Phil murmured.

“I know,” Dan said.

“Then why are you so nervous?” Phil asked with a slight chuckle, still letting his finger run over Dan’s smooth skin.

“I can’t explain it. It comes with the . . . the . . .  _ transformation,”  _ he settled on, nearly cringing at his own choice of word. “I’m  _ me,  _ but I’m also  _ not.  _ I can see and move and do anything I want, but there are certain things out of my control. Like my skittishness.”

Phil hummed, listening to Dan as he spoke. He snaked his arm around his torso, pulling Dan closer to him. “Look at me.”

Dan looked up through his long lashes, letting Phil brush the fringe out of his eyes.

“You’ll be fine,” he said sternly. “You shouldn’t let something like this eat you alive every year. Honestly, you could have a little fun with it if you tried.”

“Says you. You’re not the one who-”

His sentence was abruptly cut off when the clock next to Phil’s bed hit midnight, and Dan felt the odd surge of  _ magic  _ run through his veins. He was frozen solid, letting the magic run through him and change him like it did every October 31st.

He was still able to see Phil and hear him murmur assuring words of comfort, but he couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. Phil grew bigger and bigger in Dan’s eyes, but really, Dan knew that it was, in fact,  _ him  _ that was shrinking smaller. Phil was the same size as he always was, but it was Dan who wasn’t.

Instead of his pale skin he was used to, he now saw dark black. Everything around him suddenly heightened, his eyes adjusting so he could see more clearly, his ears twisting and turning to hear Phil’s assurance.

And just like that, Dan was no longer  _ Dan.  _ He was now a small, helpless, black cat.

“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Phil asked, smiling at Dan and running his fingers over his soft fur. “It only took thirty seconds.”

Dan tried to grumble something, but all that came out was a pathetic sort of growl, which only made Phil laugh and shake the bed.

“Very funny, kitten. You can complain all you want if that’s how you’re going to sound.”

The fur on Dan’s body spiked up, and he hissed at Phil. This wasn’t funny! How could Phil think this was funny? Dan was a tiny, helpless, stupid little  _ cat.  _ Not quite the size of a kitten, but not as full grown as an adult, either. It was like he was caught in the awkward limbo of tween years. Ugh! How awful.

“Oh, yes, I’m very scared,” Phil teased, snuggling underneath his duvet. He pulled Dan closer to him, snuggling into the tiny body Dan was stuck in for the next twenty-four hours. “Let’s go to bed. I’ll get you some warm milk in the morning for breakfast.”

Dan hissed at him again, closing his eyes as he curled up to Phil’s chest. He fell asleep quickly to Phil’s small, rumbling chuckles, and the all too familiar sound of his heartbeat. 

_

When Dan woke up the next morning, he was still curled into a ball underneath Phil’s duvet, but he noticed he was lacking the body he slept with last night. He stood up, stretching out his spine and legs, before climbing out from underneath the warmth.

Dan jumped off the bed and trotted over to the cracked door, poking his head around the corner. He could clearly hear Phil in the kitchen, making pancakes and humming a tune. He bounded down the hall and went to turn into the kitchen, when he slammed into the glass door.

Phil let out a yelp as he heard the cat on the other side mewl. After seeing the cat shake off its dizziness, Phil let out a laugh. “Might want to use more force to push it open next time.”

Dan glared at him, standing up on the door so he could gently nudge it open. He slipped inside, hopping up on the counter closest to Phil.

“That’s unsanitary, Dan. Get down.”

Dan rolled his eyes, sitting down instead of listening to Phil’s suggestion. His tiny stomach growled, and he meowed loudly at Phil to tell him as much.

“What? What do you want?” He studied Dan, noticing the way his eyes kept flickering between him and the pancake in the skillet. “Oh, you’re hungry! I don’t know what you want, considering-”

Dan pointing one paw at the pancake, giving him a look of  _ are you kidding me? _

Phil laughed. “Kittens don’t eat pancakes,” he chirped, reaching over to open the fridge. “They drink milk and eat cat food. And since we only have one . . .” He poured the cold milk into a glass, sliding it across the counter at Dan.

He couldn’t be serious. He was really making Dan drink milk? He was in the body of a cat! Not an actual one! This was horse shit. Dan let out loud meows, making Phil flinch at the volume of them.

“Dan, stop it!”

_ Then give me real food!  _ He wanted to shout, but couldn’t. All that came out were meows and mewls, both of which told Phil nothing. He kept trying to say what he wanted, and as he kept trying, he only grew more frustrated.

It was evident to Phil that Dan was on the verge of panicking, not being able to use the words he wanted, so Phil scooped him up into his arms, holding him close. “Hey, Dan, shh. Calm down, it’s okay. You’re okay. Don’t get all worked up. You’ll have your words back in no time.” He ran his fingers behind Dan’s ears, attempting to calm him. It seemed to do something, as instead of Dan’s strangled meows he was just doing, he now began to purr lowly. “See, everything is fine.”

Dan squirmed in his arms, and Phil immediately let him go. Dan landed on the floor with a small thud, looking up at the counter where Phil previously set the cup of milk. He needed to get something in his stomach, and if it was the cold liquid, then so be it.

Seeming to know what he wanted, Phil set the glass of milk on the floor, which Dan promptly stuck his head into, and began to lap it up. The more he drank, the more he had to shove his head down in the glass. Eventually, when his tongue couldn’t reach the last bit at the bottom, he went to pull his head out, only to find that it wouldn’t move.

Phil stood next to him, continuing to make the pancakes he had going, not paying any attention to Dan.

Dan let out a loud meow, but it was muffled by the glass. He lifted his whole head, trying to use his paws to get it off, but he couldn’t get a good grip on the slick glass. He kept meowing, growing more and more afraid from not being able to get his head out.

Only when Dan hit the side of the counter with the glass, did Phil look down and see problem he was having. “Oh, Dan!” He quickly leaned down, grabbing the cup firmly and letting Dan pull his head out. Phil let out a chuckle, setting the glass aside.

_ What!?  _ Dan wanted to say, but yet again, only a disgruntled meow came out.

“You have milk on your face,” Phil said, picking Dan back up and setting him on the counter. He grabbed a napkin and quickly swiped it over Dan’s face, making him sneeze. “Awe, that's cute!”

_ No, it’s not. _

“Don’t be such a downer, Dan.”

If Dan could sigh, he definitely would have. He could never seem to explain to Phil why it sucked being a cat, even if it was for twenty-four hours once a year. He felt so helpless, so needy. He couldn’t get himself food, using the internet was way too difficult with paws, and not to mention the trouble it was to use the bathroom. One year, Dan even fell in the toilet and Phil had to clean him up. How embarrassing! Though, the next day when Dan asked him about it, Phil said it wasn’t bothered and thought it was cute to give Dan a bath. Then again, Phil just had a thing for cats.

Dan followed Phil into the lounge where he turned on the telly and began to eat his warm breakfast. Dan would be lying if he said he wasn’t jealous of it. The milk did fill him up, but he would have much rather had pancakes like Phil.

“What do you want to watch?” Phil asked, shoving a forkful of pancake in his mouth.

Dan snorted, plopping down on the couch.

“Nothing, I take it?” Phil smiled, leaving the telly on the last network they had on. “Maybe later. What do you want to do then?”

Truthfully, Dan wanted nothing more than to just curl up and sleep the day away. He wasn’t sure if that was the cat part of him wanting that, or if it was just him. Probably a little of both, if he had to guess.

Since he couldn’t use words to tell Phil what he wanted, he stood up and climbed onto Phil’s lap, curling up in a ball.

“As great as cuddling sounds,” Phil began, “I’m afraid we can’t do that all day.”

Dan looked up at him, blinking slowly.  _ Why the hell not? _

Phil smiled, somehow seeming to know what Dan was saying. “I gotta get  _ some  _ work done today, Dan. I would say same goes for you, but . . .” He looked over Dan’s small body, his eyes stopping on his paws.

Dan snorted, jumping from Phil’s lap.

“Dan! Don’t be like that!” Phil said, going to stand up and accidentally dropping his cup of coffee. It fell to the floor with a loud shatter, and unable to help himself, Dan jumped a few meters off the ground and skittered off to hide. “Oh, shoot. Dan!”

Phil quickly ran to the kitchen and grabbed a rag to wipe up the spilt coffee. He picked up the shards of glass, doing his best to get every last piece. He was sure he missed some, but he wanted to go find Dan and comfort him. It wasn’t his fault for getting so scared and running off.

“Dan, where’d you go?” Phil called, going to Dan’s room first to have a look around. He looked behind the wardrobe and under the bed, having no luck as he looked for the little black cat. Phil checked under the desk in his room as well, which led to the same result. “Dan, come on out, it’s okay.”

He went to his own room next, looking under his bed and behind his bookshelf. “Dan!” he called again as he made his way to the kitchen, not finding him in there, either.

There was really only one room left, and that was the office upstairs. Phil made his way into the small room, softly calling, “Dan? You in here?” Phil peeked under the desk before looking underneath the sofa bed where Dan was hiding. “There you are.” Phil breathed out a small sigh of relief upon seeing Dan. He was curled into a ball, tail wrapped around his tiny body. “Come on out, it’s okay.”

Dan looked at him, backing away slightly as Phil reached for him.

“Please come out, Dan. I drop cups all the time. It’s just a little noise and some glass. I cleaned it up.”

Dan’s ears, which were once flat on his head, now rose slowly.

“That’s it, come on,” Phil said gently, trying his best to coax him out from under the sofa.

Dan stood up, carefully making his way over to Phil’s open hands. He touched his nose to the tip of Phil’s finger, just before pressing the top of his head into Phil’s open palm. He purred quietly, letting Phil place one hand under his stomach, and letting the other cup his bottom as he picked him up off the floor.

Phil held Dan so he could face him. “There’s my kitten.” He carried Dan back to the lounge, setting him on the arm of the couch. “Now that we have everything under control, let’s answer some emails!”

_ More like  _ you  _ can answer some emails,  _ Dan thought grumpily.

As Phil pulled out his laptop and assumed his regular position on the couch, Dan jumped on the back of the couch, walking over to where Phil’s head rested. He sat right next to him, watching as he opened up his email and began to scroll through.

“Maybe there will be something interesting in here today.” When Dan snorted next to his ear, Phil laughed. “Yeah, probably not.”

Dan watched Phil scroll through emails for almost an hour, and he was growing bored. He laid down, stretching his stubby limbs a few times before meowing annoyingly, trying to grab Phil’s attention. It didn’t take long.

“What, Dan?”

He could only meow again, but this time, he stood up and rubbed his upper body along the side of Phil’s head.

“Well, I dunno what you wanna do. We can’t do much.” By that, he meant the usual activities they did, we undoable in Dan’s current state. They couldn’t play video games, they couldn’t go out and find something to do. They could watch one of their shows, but Dan tended to grow restless in his cat form after so long. “Hmm. Have any ideas?”

Dan moved his head back and forth slowly, clearly signaling he had no ideas. All he knew is that he was bored and wanted Phil to do something about it.

“Quit whining,” Phil said. “I don’t think you realize how loud you actually sound when you meow.”

_ Maybe not. But I’m bored! _

“Dan, I don’t know what you’re saying!” Phil reached behind him and lifted Dan up, setting him down on his lap. “Seriously, I can only guess so much and get it right. But right now, I have no idea what you want. You’re going to have to get creative if you have something to tell me.”

Dan, knowing good and well his only way of communicating would be the laptop, groaned internally and stepped on the laptop.

“Oh, you’re going to type, are you?” Phil opened up a blank word document, adjusting the screen so Dan could see. “Have at it.”

Dan meowed, looking at the keys closely before pressing them one by one. It took  _ forever,  _ but he finally managed to type out what he wanted, with very few typos.

_ I want to do something! Anything! _

“If that were the case, Dan, then you’d let me have a little fun with a black cat on Halloween.”

Dan looked at him questionably. What kind of fun did Phil want to have? With him as a cat, no less?

“Let me have fun?” Phil asked, hope in his eyes.

As much as Dan wanted to say no, he hung his head and mewled quietly, which was enough for Phil to understand that he could do what he liked.  

“Yes!” Phil cheered, lifting Dan quickly and nearly scaring him half to death. “I’ll be right back, stay here.”

Dan stayed on the couch, wondering just what in the hell Phil was going to come back with. With his cat ears, he could hear Phil digging around for things in his room.

After a while, Dan’s eyes began to grow heavy with sleep. He was only seconds away from dozing off when Phil burst back into the lounge, nearly scaring Dan to death.

“Okay, I think I’ve got most of it ready. Come to the kitchen.” Phil didn’t wait for Dan as he swept out of the room and across the hall.

Dan got off the couch reluctantly, his little heart still pounding from being scared. When he walked into the kitchen, the last thing he expected was to see a large, black bowl in the middle of the floor, along with bottles of various ingredients and a wooden spoon.

_ Oh, no. _

“Oh, yes!” Phil said, seeming to know Dan’s thoughts exactly. “This is my cauldron, and, Dan, we are going to make a potion.”

Dan looked up at him with a look that said  _ are you serious. _

“You said you were bored. And you also gave me permission to have a little fun, so that’s exactly what we’re going to do. Now get over here and help me out.

_ I don’t know how much help I can be,  _ Dan thought to himself, but heading over towards the bowl anyways. As soon as he sat down, there was a sudden weight on his head. It was itching his fur, and he was eager to get it off, but Phil reprimanded him.

“No, Dan. Leave it on. It’s a tiny witches hat, made just for you!” When Dan gave him a look, Phil stuck out his lower lip to pout. “Please, Dan, for me?”

Dan grumbled to himself, giving in to Phil’s wishes.

“Great!” he cried, all traces of pouting, gone. “Now let’s see what we have here.” Phil sorted through the ingredients on the floor, and as he did so, Dan spotted the wizard’s hat in the corner of the kitchen.

With a cat-like smirk, Dan sneakily made his way over to it, pushing it across the kitchen tiles with his head until he reached Phil’s side. Dan meowed loudly, and there was no mistaking what he wanted from Phil.

“What the - wow. You want me to wear that?”

_ It’s only fair. _

Phil picked up the hat, placing it firmly on his head. “There. Happy?”

Dan meowed cheerfully, resuming his position by the black bowl.

“Alright, so, it looks like we have all the ingredients for . . . a love potion!”

_ You’ve got to be fucking shitting me. _

“What a coincidence, right, Dan?”

_ Yeah, a big one,  _ Dan thought sarcastically.

“So it says here that we need to start off with a lock of hair from both parties.” Phil plucked out a black hair from his head, placing it in the bowl.

Dan watched him with wide eyes. No way was he letting Phil pluck a hair from him. He hissed as Phil reached for him, backing away slowly.

“All hiss and no bite. Really, kitten, if you’re going to try and be mean, at least look the part.” He snatched some fur from Dan’s body, making the cat jump. Phil chuckled, throwing in a piece of Dan’s hair. Or fur. Whichever it was.

Phil’s tongue poked out of his mouth as he read something, and Dan stretched his tiny body up to get a look, but Phil shuffled the paper away, picking up a small bottle of pink liquid. “And we need some of this,” he said, not caring to elaborate just what “this” was. He dumped it into the bowl, stirring it with his wooden spoon.

Dan stood up on his hind legs, resting his two front paws on the edge of the bowl, and peered inside. The liquid had no color, and he assumed it was from the dark color of the inside of the bowl. Phil poured a few more things inside, and that’s when it began to bubble slightly.

Phil watched Dan as he cocked his head to the side, watching the liquid bubble just a little. He smiled to himself, quickly reading the labels on the other small bottles. “Almost done,” he said, pouring something else into the bowl.

Now it began to bubble more, and Dan’s curiosity grew. Just  _ what  _ was Phil making? Obviously not a love potion, those don’t exist. So what was currently happening inside this small bowl? Dan leaned forward to get a better look, but went just a little too far as his paws slipped forward, and he fell face first into the bubbling liquid. He let out a loud shriek, unable to jump out of the bowl.

“Dan!” Phil cried, reaching in and grabbing Dan to pull him out. He was sopping wet, droplets of water falling from his tail and paws. He shivered, not expecting the liquid inside to be so  _ cold.  _ “Oh, my. Now you realize what we have to do.”

Dan groaned, letting Phil carry him quickly to the bathroom. He set Dan on the floor, promising to be back in just a second. He shut the door behind him. As if Dan was going to run out. Though, the thought  _ did  _ appease him.

He jumped on the counter in the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. He had seen himself as a cat a few times before, but it had been a while and nearly forgot what it felt like. He was looking at himself, yet he wasn’t. He was familiar with the big, brown eyes that looked back at him, but the swishing tail and twitching ears is what got him. Well, that, the fur, and the tiny body. So all of it, basically. It made him feel stuck and caught between reality and a dream, and it was that feeling that sent shivers down his spine.

Dan was unaware that Phil had come back, and it wasn’t until they locked gazes in the mirror that he noticed it. Phil gave him a sad smile, setting the towels down on the floor as he stood next to Dan.

“I know you don’t like this,” Phil said, gesturing to Dan’s cat form. “And I’m sorry you’re not having the best of days. I can only do so much to make you forget you’re not stuck as a cat for the whole day.”

_ You’re doing just fine,  _ Dan wanted to tell him. He mewled quietly, leaning into Phil, despite being covered in . . . whatever Phil had put into his “cauldron.”

Phil chuckled lowly, patting Dan on the head. “Maybe after this we can cuddle in my room and watch some anime?”

Dan meowed, liking the sound of that.

“It’s settled then. Let’s just get the bath done and we can’t finish the rest of our day being lazy.” Phil ran the bath water, making sure it wasn’t too hot for Dan, before scooping him up and placing him in the water. He used a cup to wet Dan’s fur, making sure to soak him thoroughly.

“I was having a bit of fun,” Phil said, doing his best to make conversation as he washed Dan. “My love potion was almost done, but alas, it obtained a little too much hair from one party.”

Dan rolled his eyes, and Phil seemed to catch it since he laughed. As Phil ran his soapy fingers through Dan’s fur, he began to grow sleepy. It felt so nice, having Phil massage him with his gentle fingers, over and over again. He nearly collapsed in the water, but Phil caught him just before he could.

“Don’t fall asleep on me, kitten. I’m almost done.” He finished rinsing the shampoo from his black coat, and drained the water. He wrapped Dan in two towels, not wanting him to be cold  _ and  _ damp.

He carried Dan to his room, removing the towels and tucking him in under his blue and green duvet. “I’m going to get us something to drink. Be right back.”

Dan looked after him, feeling a warmth bloom in his chest. Yes, he may hate being a cat for twenty-four hours, all helpless and needy, but he couldn’t deny how much more he loved Phil when he looked after him. He loved the warm cuddles and cute nicknames, though he hisses and growls at Phil when he uses them.

Soon enough, Phil came back with two mugs, one full of warm milk, and the other full of hot chocolate. Dan could only guess which was for him.

“I think  _ Your Lie in April  _ is still in my DVD player, and I’m too lazy to change it, so it looks like that’s what we’re watching.” He turned out the lights and climbed under the covers, pulling Dan close to him. “You need to get warm,” he said, nuzzling his face into Dan’s neck. “You smell good too.”

Dan leaned in close to Phil, soaking up all the body heat he could get. He was still a bit chilly, but he barely even felt it. All he could feel was the rise and fall of Phil’s chest.

It didn’t take long for Dan to pass out. His eyes shut almost immediately and his breaths evened out as he matched his pace with Phil’s.

Phil looked down at him, smiling contently at the sleeping kitten next to him. He snaked an arm around Dan, holding him close as he let his eyes droop closed as well, falling into a light sleep for the rest of the evening.

_

When Dan woke, he was still curled into a tight ball against Phil’s chest, only this time, the room was completely dark. And Dan hated the dark. He mewled quietly, hoping to wake up Phil. When his pathetic attempt didn’t work, he tried again, just a bit louder.

“Mmm,” Phil mumbled, stirring in his sleep. “Dan?”

Dan meowed, pushing closer into Phil.

“It’s okay,” Phil said sleepily. “I’m sure the day is almost over.” Just to be sure, he cracked open one eye to see that there was only thirty minutes left of the day. “Wow. We slept nearly the whole day! There’s no way we will be able to go back to sleep now.”

Dan wasn’t so sure about that. He could always fit in a nice few hours of sleep, even if he just woke up. Besides, something about the magic of turning him to and from a cat, tended to wear him out for unknown reasons.

“So . . . what do we do for the next thirty minutes?” Phil asked, looking at Dan. “Sitting in silence will take forever.”

As much as Dan agreed with that, he couldn’t exactly tell Phil what he wanted to do for the next thirty minutes.

“I’m hungry. Let’s get something to eat,” Phil said, lifting up Dan as he climbed out of bed.

In the kitchen, he set Dan on the counter and began to make himself a bowl of cereal. Dan would usually annoy Phil for something, but he didn’t want another glass of milk. He could wait thirty minutes until he was a human again to make himself something.

Dan watched Phil slowly eat his cereal, waiting impatiently for the clock to strike midnight. It was so annoying, not being able to use human words and make conversation. He didn’t know how animals dealt with it every day, let alone how owners knew what they wanted.

He supposed it was like Phil, in a way. Phil knew Dan so well, he could tell what he wanted by a simple look or a disgruntled sound. And perhaps that’s how it is with owners and their pets. It’s basically the same thing - getting to know the other and learning what they like and what makes them tick. But still, Dan was annoyed that he couldn’t talk to Phil. And it had been a whole day!

“You’re thinking awful hard,” Phil said, shoving another spoonful of cereal in his mouth. “You have that look on your face.”

Dan’s face was a little different, but whatever. Phil wasn’t wrong. Dan let out a short breath, letting him know he was right.

“Well, stop that. You only have about a minute left anyway.”

To Dan’s disbelief, he looked at the clock on the oven and saw that Phil was right (yet again) and that there was only one minute left until midnight. November 1st.

“If I were you,” Phil said, “I would get off the counter because I can’t imagine being six foot whatever and lounging on that small section of countertop,” he said with a laugh. He placed his bowl in the sink, motioning for Dan to follow him back to the bedroom.

Dan dashed down the hall quickly, jumping onto Phil’s bed in excitement.

“Eager to be human again?”

Dan meowed happily, eagerly awaiting to tell Phil what he had wanted to tell him all day. But even though he was excited to turn back, he wasn’t looking forward to the process. He hated seeing everything shrink or grow when he changed, but mostly, he hated when his body was frozen and he couldn’t move. That’s when real fear set in.

“You got this,” Phil whispered, rubbing his finger back and forth behind Dan’s ear.

Within seconds, the magic kicked in, running through Dan’s body and changing him. He squeezed his eyes shut so he wouldn’t have to see everything around him grow in size, and as he felt himself getting longer and longer, he let out short bursts of breath, wanting it to be over.

“Hey, Dan,” Phil murmured, his lips right next to his ear. “You can open your eyes now.”

Slowly, Dan opened his eyes and was greeted by a smiling Phil.

“There’s my kitten.”

Dan laughed, despite himself. “Phil?” he croaked, his voice a bit hoarse from only being able to make a few small sounds for the day.

“Dan.”

“I want you to know that I love you. A lot. I know I give you a hard time, especially when I’m a cat, but no matter what, you doing your best is all I could ever want. And I love you for it.”

Phil pulled Dan into a hug, smiling against his bare shoulder. “I love you, too,” he said, slowly laying back down and cuddling him close. “But I wish you were smaller. You’re more fun to cuddle that way.”

Dan swatted him playfully. “Don’t worry. There’s always next year.”

“Maybe next year I’ll have to make a measurement potion to keep you that small forever!”

Dan laughed, pulling away from Phil. “Speaking of, what, exactly, were you reading off of earlier to make that ‘love potion’ or whatever?”

“Warlock’s secret,” Phil said with a wink, cuddling closer into Dan. Truthfully, there was no secret. He just didn’t have the heart to tell him that he was looking off a blank piece of paper to make Dan forget about his kitty situation. And it worked. For a while.

“I don’t believe you for one second.”

“And you don’t have to. That’s the beauty of magic. Seeing is believing. And I see that you love me, so my potion must have worked! And that’s all you need to know.”

“You’re so stupid,” Dan said with a fit of laughter, shaking his head as he held Phil close under the duvet.

They laid in silence, both of them nearly asleep again when Phil mumbled. “Only 364 more days until my cute little kitten is back and can’t call me names.”

Dan chuckled, not having the energy to retaliate. But all in all, this was one of the happiest Halloween’s he thinks he’s ever had. And he supposed he should thank Phil for that.

Tomorrow.


End file.
